Left an established business to champion organic farming – Arjun Suri

By Vishal Krishna

After three years of hard work and convincing 1,500 farmers to go organic, Arjun Suri, sees light in his search for a new green revolution.

Twenty-five-year-old Arjun Suri was heir to a large family-owned enterprise called Suri Enterprises. The agro arm of the closely held business had a turnover of Rs 2 crore, and a clientele of over 2,000 farmers. For over 30 years, his family supplied chemical fertilisers and hybrid seeds to farmers and built a sizeable business in the small hillside town of Solan in Himachal Pradesh. The family also has business interests in the distribution of pharmaceutical products as well as a stake in real estate in the region.

After finishing college in Delhi in 2013, he decided to spend time with farmers in the region. That’s when it dawned upon him that the pristine green belt that Solan was known for was being destroyed by tonnes of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. “I realised that while farmers were increasing the yield of the land they were underestimating the impact of chemicals on the land and soil,” says Arjun.